I'm not sure if disrespectful is the word but they're certainly disheartening. It's very hard to keep a positive attitude when fighting cancer and people talking about you as though you've already died certainly doesn't help...Now that I think about it though, maybe disrespectful is the right word. I'm reconsidering because his family members must be devastated every time they hear a eulogy-esq report on the news. I do think it would be best if the coverage take a more positive, hopeful turn, especially given that Kennedy has been released from the hospital.

welcome to politics

Very disrespectful. When I flipped on CNN yesterday I thought he had died because they were talking about him in the past tense.

I think that it is extremely disrespectful, sad, and pathetic. Anything to sell a story. This isn't a story. He is sick. That is it. It is not the time to talk about his past accomplishments. 24 hour news shows have killed responsible journalism.

I saw a newspaper headline yesterday that said in big bold letters: "Ted is dying". As true as it may ultimately be, it rubbed me the wrong way.

Its his family that get hurts the most with those kinds of headlines.

i know he has a pretty severe diagnosis, but they are talking about him as if he is already dead! I hope he and his family are just keeping the news turned off and spending time together.

The morning he went in the hospital it sounded like they were saying his eulogies on the news, talking about the best parts of his life, blah blah blah, like he was dead and the were practicing for the funeral. I thought it very strange and disheartening but I guess if they have nothing to talk about they just ramble on.

The press does appear to be rushing things - usually it's because these are the kind of things that they're hearing from people and talking about among themselves (what happens next, how bad is it?) and because if people don't feel a story is getting enough coverage they call and complain.

Hahah...I thought he was on his death bed the way the media is talking about it...all amazed that he is walking around and taking boat rides. The media gets carried away sometimes.

"I saw a newspaper headline yesterday that said in big bold letters: "Ted is dying"."

Well, all of us are dying, it's just a matter of when- but where's my newspaper headline, eh? Until the man is dead, it's inappropriate to speak about him as though he's already passed away. Doing so to get readers or viewers or to sell papers is classless.

I don't think the media is closing the door on Kennedy's illness. They're trying to close the door on his career. I'd like to see the media leave the family alone.

freegracefrom, that is crazy they actually said he is dying!

I think that the media has this habit of taking the facts and discussing them....but then they get boring after a while and you have to fill a 24 hour news cycle, so that leads to lots of speculation and guessing about what might happen, what this might mean, etc. I think a certain amount of that is good, because we need to discuss consequences of what is happening in the world. However, I think that the media does it way too much. Their constant discussion of things which are slim possibilities gives credibility to ideas that don't have credibility on their own. The down side to 24 hour news.

In this situation, they don't have any idea what the doctors are saying or what is happening in his specific case, how long it has been growing, how big the tumor is, etc. So they start talking about what "might" happen "if" he dies to fill air time and page space, and add drama. They are speculating on something they literally have no idea about.

I remember they treated Fidel like that in the media too.

I was going to say the same thing as Jillness.

For his sake I wish the media was more positive, but coming from a media perspective it makes sense that they are discussing his past.

I was glad to see that on the Today show this morning, they used the story positively by talking about early warning signs of brain tumors. I feel like the story is out there and you can't avoid it altogether, but I really liked the way they covered it. At first they talked about his returning home to be with his family, they briefly touched on treatment options for the type of tumor he has, and they went on to inform others of the warning signs. I know it's kind of a "fluff" show, but I really liked their coverage.

That kind of news reporting lacks judgement and class. I hope someone with some type of conscience shakes some sense into their reporters.

Well part of the problem is that our man made world moves so fast and we get so wrapped up in it we forget that the life that really matters needs to be allowed to move at it's own pace.

So this is why we have this retrospective perception that the fight is over when it's only just beginning.

I agree that it's disrespectful, but there are some who are being even LESS respectful. Michael Savage played a song by the Dead Kennedys and said "You know I'm playing the Dead Kennedys not to mock Ted Kennedy. It's just appropriate, that's all." He also played a clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger saying "it's not a tumor!" from Kindergarten Cop.

Is that political humor?

There is no positiveness to be had or positive attitude to be kept when you have a MALIGNANT BRAIN TUMOR that caused has a seizure with paralysis.

It is thoroughly realistic of the media and of anyone who has ever had a family member or friends die of a brain tumor to know exactly what a painful and horrible and thankfully rapid death Mr Kennedy is going to have.

People are paying their respects and letting Mr Kennedy know how much they have appreciated his hard work and dedication while he can understand it and enjoy it.

The thing people need to not do is treat him as if he;s already dead and mourn him well his alive. It is a hard thing to do for family members and loved ones but for the sake of the person who's dying they have to put aside their imminent feelings of loss and misery to celebrate and love the person while they're still alive.

When my mother was in the hospital dying of respiratory failure from her massive non-cancerous brain tumor, it was my job as a 12 year old to kick out family members and my mom's friends who came to her bed side and mourned her while she was still alive. Their crying and unrealistic statements that "she could pull through" and cries of "it's not fair" would always send my mom into an emotional and then physical tailspin. So she asked me to sternly kick out anyone who came in to her room who couldn't be happy to see her alive now. She enjoyed when people came in a recounted their memories of the trouble she and they used to get into and how they wished there would be more wacky journeys with her - but when people started crying uncontrollably and saying how unfair things were for her - I had to kick them out and reprimand them and tell these adults that they weren't allowed to see her again per her request until they could end their self-pity and mourning.

What the media and Kennedy's colleagues are doing is not putting the cart before the horse or disrespectful - as I said they are telling the man how much they have appreciate his life. That's not something that everyone who's got a fatal diagnosis get to hear from people that they less than pleasant to them when they were "healthy".

And people often demonstrate their uncomfortableness with death and dying by making jokes. It is part of the human condition - when something shocking happens, something we cannot explain or fell very very scared of or uncomfortable with we humans make jokes. The joking is not to offend the person in question but for the person stating them to try to find some way of identifying with the person and accepting what is happening WITHOUT breaking down.

And oh please about the Arnold S movie quote about "It's not a tumor!" That's one of my families favorite things to say to each other. Whenever anyone of my siblings or aunts or uncles has a headache or dizzyness someone can always be counted on to say "It's not a TUMOR!" Just like Arnold in Kindergarten Cop.

It's highly self-righteous for people to try to regulate and control the way that other people deal with bad news. Each individual deals with news of someone serious illness differently. So stop trying to say that something is or isn't appropriate to all or is offensive - just because that's not how you deal.